DnD 3.5 - The Bard Handbook

Disclaimer

I will use the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build
handbooks, which tend to be more consistent than 3.5 handbooks. Because so little of
3.5 is available on the SRD, I will attempt to tag items with a superscript indicating
their book of origin. For help identifying sourcebook abbreviations, see my
Sourcebook Abbreviations Guide.

Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational.

Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances

Green: Good options.

Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character.

It's important to note that I generally omit campaign-setting specific content.
I am of the opinion that those options are intended to be limited to campaigns run
in those settings, and as such they don't really apply to a generic campaign. Those
options also tend to be wildly unbalanced and rarely recieve errata. I also omit the
use of "Flaws" since they allow a massive increase in power with essentially no cost
to the character.

Introduction

The bard is among the most versatile classes in 3.5. With great skills, deceptively
good spellcasting, and decent combat abilities, the Bard can fill nearly any role
in a party without depending entirely on spells to do so like the Wizard does. They
make an excellent addition to a large party which has every role covered due to their
effects as a force-multiplyer, but they also make a fantastic member of a small party
due to their wide-ranging skillset.

A classic criticism of bards it that they are a "jack of all trades and a master
of none." Well, the full line is "Jack of all trades, master of none, but often times
better than a master of one", and I can think of few things to which that truism
applies better than to the Bard.

The bard's biggest roles are as a Face, Librarian, Support, and Utility Caster,
though they can fill nearly any role with a handful of clever build choices.

Bard Class Features

Hit Points: For a class which can jump into melee
d6 hit points is difficult.

Base Attack Bonus: 2/3 BAB is enough to get by on.

Saves: Good Reflex and Will saves.

Proficiencies: You get all of the .

Skills: More skills than the rogue, but less skill
ranks to spend on them. Basically anything that be done with skills can be done
by the Bard.

Spells: Despite only being a 2/3 caster the Bard has
one of the most interesting spell lists in the game. Bards are the only arcane
casters with built-in access to healing spells, as well as a collection of spells
unique to the Bard.

Bardic Knowledge: Even if you don't invest a single
skill point in a Knowledge skill, you can still compete with any other Scholar
in the party. 5 ranks in Knowledge (History) will give you an edge, too. If you
do invest skill points in your actual skills, you essentially get to roll twice.

Bardic Music: The Bard's most iconic ability. Bardic
Music does a lot, and it's extremely effective. At low levels you may need to
be cautious about using your limited daily uses, but as you gain levels the potency
and frequency of your music both increase dramatically.

Countersong (Su): Too situational, and only affects
a tiny set of spells that no one uses.

Fascinate (Sp): This has saved my life at least
twice. It won't work once you go into combat, but if you can surprise foes
with it or start it before anyone rolls initiative you can get a handle on
fights before they happen. At low levels the duration will be short, but it
grows quickly. The fact that the DC is equal to your perform check is totally
absurd since it's so easy to optimize skill checks.

Inspire Courage (Su): This is why most people
play a bard. This bonus is the primary reason why bards act as a force multiplier.
I've played several bards where the phrase "don't forget the +1" was my motto,
and those bonuses often made the difference between overwhelming defeat and
resounding victory.

Inspire Competence (Su): Aid Another is likely
enough to cover the same use case most of the time, but this works at range
and it's more fun.

Suggestion (Sp): This is far better than you
could possibly get from the spell Suggestion. This costs nothing but time to
use, it doesn't break Fascinate, and the DC scales with your level. In theory,
you could keep trying until Fascinate's duration expires or you succeed.

Inspire Greatness (Su): By this level there are
very few effects which work off of a number of hit dice (Circle of Death is
the only one I can think of), but the temporary hit points are great. The
competence bonuses are nice since they'll stack with Inspire Courage. Even
the 5 round duration after you stop singing is great since it will allow you
to switch to Inspire Courage. Add on Lingering Song and you get a full minute
before you need to consider re-starting Inspire Greatness.

Song of Freedom (Sp): This can be great for
removing a vaguely defined variety of effects, but if you have a cleric in the
party your cleric will be considerably better equipped to handle these problems.

Inspire Heroics (Su): Morale bonuses to saves
(with the exception of saves vs. fear) are uncommon, and dodge bonuses to AC
always stack, so this is a great defensive option. Like Inspire Greatness the
duration lingers after you stop singing, potentially allowing you to stack
the effects with other songs. At this point you've got three combat buffs to
choose from, and picking which to start with can often be the decision that
determines the outcome of the fight. Choose carefully, and if you haven't done
so already, find a way to start Inspire Courage as a swift action.

Mass Suggestion (Sp): By this level your perform
checks are likely absurd, so the DC of Fascinate is nearly unbeatable. Sit
your enemies down for a quick concert, then kindly suggest that they spend
1 hour per level sitting quietly and contemplating their own navels while
you continue adventuring in peace.

Alternate Class Features

Bardick KnackPHB2: Trading in Bardic
Knowledge hurts, but what you get in exchange is fantastic. You can pick up
the Jack of all Trades feat to essentially have all of your skills maxed out
as cross-class skills, but if you can't spare a feat you can probably still
spare one rank to put into every skill you plan to use.

Drow BardDotU: Poison Use doesn't
really seem like something a bard needs, and you can get it from a feat.

Healing HymnCC: Healing hit points
is really easy (see Wand of Lesser Vigor, below), and Fascinate is both amazing
and required for Suggestion.

Hymn of FortificationCC: Similar
to Protection from Evil, but with no numerical buffs. You don't give up much
to get it, but I don't know that it's much better than Inspire Competence.

Inspire AweDrM: Take the Haunting
Melody feat instead, and you can do the same thing better and without giving
up Inspire Courage. Admittedly, Haunting Melody doesn't have the 20th-level
fear effect, but I don't think that's enough of a difference to give up Inspire
Courage.

LoresongDS: Losing Bardic Knowledge
hurts, but activating this as an immediate action is a big deal. You could use
this to turn near-misses into hits, allow allies to succeed on save-or-suck
effects, or pass a crucial skill roll. All great options when the chips are down.

Mimicking SongDS: Countersong is
garbage, and this is probably the best thing you can get in exchange.

Spellbreaker SongCM: Personally,
I would rather just cast Silence.

Substitution Levels

Gnome BardRoS: 1st and 6th level
are fantastic.

1st level: The gnome cantrips are great,
and Counter Feat is passable.

3rd level: Situationa. You can get better
trades for Inspire Competence..

6th level: Excellent for fear stacking.
If you don't want to give up Suggestion, pick up the Haunting Melody
feat for essentially the same effect.

11th level: Three spells known is nice,
but by this level Color Spray is worthless, and touch of idiocy is only
situationally useful.

Half-Elf BardRoD: You need to be a
half-elf to even consider these options, and that's not a punishment I would
wish on any player. The options aren't good enough to justify such a terrible
race.

1st level: Countersong is garbage, but
I don't know that I've ever found a use for Calm Emotions unless I had
a Frenzied Berzerker in the party.

6th level: I like Suggestion much better
than command, but you can use this in combat more easily.

8th level: Too situational..

Unearthed Arcana

Content from Unearthed Arcana is generally considered optional variant
rules. Many of these options are poorly balanced, so be sure to consult your DM
before selecting any such options.

Bardic Sage: This is what I like to see from
alternate class features: A slightly different take on the class introducing
some additional limitations in exchange for interesting new capabilities. This
makes the Bard more MAD than it already is, so this can be difficult to play
in many games. If you're going for a spellcasting-focused bard, this can be
great. If you're going for more of a skill focus or combat focus you likely
won't be able to invest enough in Intelligence to make this work.

Spellcasting: An extra spell known per
spell level is very helpful for spontaneous casters, and some of the
divination spell options are fantastic. However, you need Intelligence
high enough to cast spells (including your other spells), so
you'll need to get 16 Intelligence eventually.

Bardic Knowledge: A +2 bonus to your
Bardic Knowledge checks further lessens your need for actualy Knowledge
skills. If you add on the +2 bonus from 5 ranks in Knowledge (History)
you can probably get away with totally forgoing real Knowledge skills.

Bardic Knowledge: This is annoying, but
hardly debilitating. With Lingering song your songs will last 8 rounds
after you stop singing instead of 10. Considering what you can get from
the improved spellcasting I think it's worth it.

Divine Bard: This turns the Bard's only dump stat
into a massive dependency for spellcasting, making the bard exceptionally MAD.

Spellcasting: The spells you get are
mostly mediocre.

Savage Bard: Another fantastic alternate class
feature, the Savage Bard trades some of the Bard's existing abilities for roughly
equivalent abilities with a different flavor. In a wilderness-heavy campaign
where classes like barbarian and ranger are important, the Savage Bard fits very
well.

Alignment: Hardly important, and in my
experience most bards are chaotic anyway.

Base Save Bonuses: Fortitude and Will
saves are better than Reflex and Will saves.

Class Skills: Decipher Script and Speak
Language are rarely useful, but Survival can be very helpful depending
on your campaign. If you really need to learn a language, you can
probably spare the 2 skill ranks to do so.

Illiteracy: A minor inconvenience.

Spellcasting: Some of the spells you
give up are disappointing, but you get some good options in exchange.

Variant Bard: Gaining an animal companion is
really cool, but the rest of the abilities you get are really situational.
Giving up both Bardic Knowledge and all of the buffs provided by Bardic Music
is really hard. If you want to build a bard focuses solely on spellcasting,
this might be a good option since you can stop worrying about Perform, and
turn your Bardic Music uses into fuel for your spells with Lyric Spell.

Abilities

Unfortunately, due to their broad skill set bards also suffer from a little
bit of MAD. They're not monks, but it can be a problem. Where you choose to
put your best ability scores will define the function of your bard, but there
are surprisingly few bad choices.

The existence of the Crystal Echoblade and Slippers of Battledancing are
crucial to note here. Those two items allow the Bard to largely ignore Strength
and greatly reduce the need for Dexterity when fighting in melee. If those two
items are available to you and you plan to do any melee combat, consider their
presence very carefully when determining your ability scores.

Str: If you plan to fight at range with a crossbow
or with spells, you can dump Strength. Otherwise, you may want decent strength
for a melee weapon or just a little bit for bonus damage on a composite bow.

Dex: Bards only get light armor (medium with
Battle Caster), so you'll want some Dexterity to boost your AC. If you go for
ranged weapons or weapon finesse, you'll want a bit more.

Int: Bards get too many skills, and 6+ skill ranks
just isn't enough without some Intelligence to back it up.

Wis: Bards have good Will saves and very few skills
tied to Wisdom, so this is your only true dump stat.

Cha: The Bard's most important abilities are powered
by Charisma, including spells and Inspire Courage. However, since the Bard is a
little bit MAD and you're not a full cast, you don't need to start with and 18
at level 1. It helps, but it's not required.

32 Point Buy

28 Point Buy

22 Point Buy

15 Point Buy

Elite Array

Str: 8

Dex: 14

Con: 14

Int: 12

Wis: 8

Cha: 18

Str: 10

Dex: 14

Con: 14

Int: 12

Wis: 8

Cha: 16

Str: 8

Dex: 14

Con: 12

Int: 10

Wis: 8

Cha: 16

Str: 8

Dex: 12

Con: 11

Int: 10

Wis: 8

Cha: 14

Str: 10

Dex: 13

Con: 14

Int: 12

Wis: 8

Cha: 15

Races

Charisma bonuses are great, but not absolutely essential. Charisma penalties,
however, are difficult to overcome.

Dwarf: The penalty to Charisma makes the dwarf difficult.

Elf: Nothing specifically helpful for the bard,
but nothing that hurts you.

Gnome: Great for any non-melee bard.

Half-Elf: The worst race in the core rulebook. The
substitution levels aren't enough to compensate for just how worthless half-elves
are.

Half-Orc: Penalties to two crucial abilities.

Halfling: Nothing specifically helpful for the bard,
but nothing that hurts you.

Human: A feat is always welcome, and the extra skill
rank is really helpful since bards have so many skills to cover.

Skills

Appraise (Int): Worthless. Pay an NPC.

Balance (Dex): Too situational.

Bluff (Cha): Not as important as Diplomacy,
but still crucial for a Face.

Climb (Str): Climbing is silly in a game where flight
exists. At worst, buy a potion of Spider Climb for 50gp.

Concentration (Con): You won't be as dependent
on spells as a Wizard, so you don't need to worry about Concentration too much.
If you're stuck in melee, pull out a sword. If you're focusing on your spellcasting,
pick up Melodic Casting so that you can use Perform instead.

Decipher Script (Int): Too situational.

Diplomacy (Cha): The Face's go-to skill.

Disguise (Cha): You can cast Disguise Self.

Escape Artist (Dex): Too situational.

Gather Information (Cha): A bit situational,
but very useful for a face and often difficult to replace.

Hide (Dex): Stealth is great, but you can cast
Invisibility.

Jump (Str): Jumping is silly in a game where flight
exists.

Knowledge (Arcana) (Int): Identify constructs, dragons,
and magical beats. Fairly few classes get access to this, so you need to step up here.

Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) (Int):
I've been playing for the better part of two decades and I've never rolled this
skill once.

Knowledge (Dungeoneering) (Int): Identify aberrations and
oozes. If you spend any time underground or in dungeons, this is worth maxing. Otherwise,
spend one rank and ride your intelligence bonus.

Knowledge (Religion) (Int): Identify undead. More easily
available than Knowledge (Arcana), but still very useful, especially since your cleric
probably dumped intelligence.

Knowledge (The Planes) (Int): Identify outsiders. Outsiders
are diverse and strange, and knowing stuff about them will help your survival greatly.

Listen (Wis): Bards don't get Spot, so this is
your best perception skill.

Move Silently (Dex): Invisibility doesn't make
you quiet.

Perform (Cha): The only character who ever needs
this skill is the Bard (and a couple of prestige classes, but they don't count).
Unfortunately, it's essentially a perpetual tax on your skills. The different
versions are mostly interchangeable, though there are some exeptions due to items,
feats, and prestige classes.
If you plan to use two-handed weapons like bows or crossbows, consider a version
which doesn't use your hands like dancing, oratory, or singing.

Act: Essentially the same as singing.
Works with the Dragonsong feat, assuming you're not miming.

Comedy: Essentially the same as singing,
but qualifies you for Divine Prankster. Works with the Dragonsong feat.

Dance: A great option for combat bards
since it qualifies you for Slippers of Battledancing, Snowflake Wardance,
and Dervish.

Keyboard instruments: Do you really want
to carry around a harpsichord?

Oratory: Essentially the same as singing.
Works with the Dragonsong feat.

Percussion instruments: Few masterwork
or magical instruments, and no special benefits related to it.

Sing: The simplest option. Doesn't require
your hands, and works with the Dragonsong feat.

String instruments: Includes many of the
best masterwork and magical instruments.

Wind instruments: Few masterwork
or magical instruments, and no special benefits related to it.

Sense Motive (Wis): With dumped Wisdom,

Sleight of Hand (Dex): Too situational.

Speak Language (None): You can cast Tongues. Maybe
spend one or two ranks if you're going to be speaking one language that you don't
know on a regular basis (Undercommon for Underdark campaigns, Draconic for campaigns
with lots of dragons, etc.) but otherwise skip it.

Spellcraft (Int): Leave this for full casters,
but consider picking up a rank or two.

Swim (Str): Too situational. Swimming should be
handled with magic.

Tumble (Dex): Normally not very useful, but
if you pick up Slippers of the Battledancer you're going to be moving around
in melee quite a bit. Investing in tumble will allow you to do so without
constantly drawing attacks of opportunity.

Use Magic Device (Cha): The best skill in the
game, and almost no one does it better than you.

Feats

Arcane AccompanimentPHB2: Lingering
Song is strictly better.

Arcane StrikeCW: Powerful, but
you only get six levels of spells. If you plan to largely ignore your spellcasting
for whatever reason this can be a good way to burn your spell slots.

Battle CasterCAr: Bards do fine in
light armor most of the time. Mithral Breast Blate is plenty of AC for many
Bards who want to invest a bit more in AC, but if you're going to be on the
front lines consider Battle Caster to get access to medium armor without
hindering your spells. Mithral Full Plate is expensive, but it's also a hefty
AC bonus. Unless you're willing to spend the gold on Mithral Full Plate you'll
probably get more benefit from a wand of Mage Armor or Greater Mage Armor than
from this feat.

Battle DancerPHB2: The bonus is a morale
bonus, so it won't stack with Inspire Courage. Odd, since Inspire Courage is
the option which makes the most sense to combine with this.

Dragonfire InspirationDM: If your
party doesn't have any trouble hitting things, this is a massive damage
boost. Pick up Draconic Heritage, and you can change the damage type to
something silly like sonic or force.

DragonsongDr: If you rely on
Fascinate, Suggestion, or another offensive mind-affecting Bardic Music ability
like Inspire Awe or Haunting Melody, this can be very useful.

Extra MusicCAd: You'll get plenty
of uses as you gain levels, but if you have something like Lyric Song which
eats your daily uses you may want to pick this up a few times.

Force of PersonalityCAd: Bards get
good Will saves, but since Wisdom is a dump stat you may still have issues.
This only applies to mind-affecting effects, but considering how few Will
save effects which aren't mind-affecting that's probably fine.

GoadCAd: One of very few "aggro"
mechanics in 3.5. Activating this as a move action is really weird, but it
means that you can use your standard action to cast spells or use Bardic Music.
However, the bard is in no way a tank, so be very cautious about uverusing
this.

Jack of All TradesCAd: Combined with
Bardick Knack, this makes you good at everything for which there is a skill.

Knowledge DevotionCC: If ever there
was a reason to invest in actual ranks in Knowledge skills, this is it. The
feat specifically calls for a Knowledge skill check, so I don't think Bardic
Knowledge applies. Since you likely won't have Intelligence as high as a
Duskblade or other intelligence-based user, you won't do quite as well with
this, but at mid-levels and up this can provide a significant bonus to attacks
and damage for any combat bard.

Lingering SongCAd: If you plan to
use Bardic Music in combat, this is an absolute must. Continuing to sing
severeley limits your ability to cast spells, use magic items, or start other
songs. Getting a full minute for free after you stop singing will cover the
duration of most combats, negating the need for many other options like
Melodic Casting or a masterwork Lute.

Metamagic SongRoS: Bards focused
heavily on spellcasting (generally those going into Bard spellcasting prestige
classes) can make excellent use of this.

Martial StudyToB: Many maneuvers could
be useful for the Bard. If you choose a maneuver from Devoted Spirit, you
get Intimidate as a class skill. If you choose White Raven, you can then
pick up Martial Stance to later take White Raven Song without takinga class
dip into Crusader or Warblade.

Martial StanceToB: You want
to get a White Raven stance so that you can get White Raven Dance.
There are several to choose from, but which one to take depends
heavily on how your party fights.

White Raven SongToB:
Activating Inspire Courage as a swift action means that you
can start up a second song the same turn or do some actual
fighting.

Melodic CastingCM: Using Perform
in place of Concentration will save you a ton of skill ranks if you're worried
about Concentration. The ability to cast spells and use some magic items
while also using Bardic Music seems exciting, but once you pick up Lingering
Song it becomes much less important since you get several rounds of your
song in which you can do whatever you want. You can also cast Undersong in
order to use Perform in place of Concentration, though the 10 minutes/level
duration may be a problem.

Nymph's KissBoED: The flat skill
bonus applies to many of the Bard's most important skills, and a free skill
rank at every level is fantastic. If you take this, take it at first level
to maximize the benefit.

Obscure LoreCAd: A huge bonus to
Bardic Knowledge, further reducing your need for actual knowledge skills if
you want to save skill ranks.

Obtain FamiliarCAr: Familiars are
fantastic. If you focus on skill use, strongly consider this. For help with
Familiars, see my
Practical Guide to
Familiars.

Snowflake WardanceFrB: If this stacks
with Slippers of Battledancing, this is amazing. You get to add your Charisma
on top of your strength/dexterity bonus, and your slippers allow you to add
Charisma in place of strength/dexterity. RAW I think it works, but as a DM I
would probably disallow it because it's absurdly strong.

SubsonicsCAd: Great when you're silenced
or if you're trying to be sneaky. You can use Fascinate, and possibly even
Suggestion without revealing your location.

Versatile PerformerCAd: If you need
more than one version of perform you're probably doing something wrong.

Words of CreationBoED: I, and many
of the people I play with, prohibit Words of Creation. It's absurdly powerful
and the nonlethal damage you take to use it is easily mitigated. The ability
to double your Inspire Courage bonus is already enough that this feat is too
powerful to see actual use. There's also some debate about wether this doubling
occurs before or after adding bonuses like Badge of Valor.

Bardic Music Feats

This list includes feats which specifically include the [Bardic Music] tag in
the original feat text, or which use a daily usaged of Bardic Music. The distinction
is a bit arbitrary, but I've made the same separation for metamagic feats so this seemed reasonable.

Chant of FortitudeCAd: Garbage.

Chant of the Long RoadCS: Try
teleportation.

Chord of DistractionCS: Are you kidding?
three uses of Bardic Music, and it only works against one attack.
A single use of Bardic Music for a full round of flat-footed would still be mediocre.
This is just insulting.

DoomspeakCoR: Another broken feat from
Champions of Ruin to put next to Craven. Despite the short duration, the
penalties are crippling. A -10 penalty to saves is enough that even the weakest
save-or-suck spells are terrifying, and the DC scaling is double what it should
be.

Epic of the Lost KingCS: If you take
Snowflake Wardance and tend to have combats lasting longer than your wardance,
this might be useful occasionally. Otherwise it's worthless.

Ice HarmonicsFrB: I'm not sure why this
is even a feat. This is ridiculously situational.

Inspire SpellpowerRoS: I can't think
of a single case where doing this is more useful than doing almost anything
else.

Ironskin Chant: One round of the effect
is far too weak for a whole use of Bardic Music.

Lyric SpellCAd: Spellcasting-focused
bards will get a lot of mileage out of this. Consider picking up Extra Music
to get additional spells.

Sound of SilenceCS: Absolutely not worth
two uses of Bardic Music. Instead, you can pick up Lyric Spell and learn to cast
Silence. That gives you the same effect at the same rate of Bardic Music consumption,
plus the silence lasts longer and affects an AOE.

Warning ShoutCS: If your party is getting
hit with enough AOEs to justify this, they need to look into getting permanent
evasion.

Weapons

Light Crossbow: Small bard? Want to dump Strength?
Either way, a light crossbow is a good option.

Longsword: The biggest damage die the bard can
get, but remember that the importance of damage dice diminishes greatly as your
other damage bonuses scale.

Rapier: The generic bard's best melee weapon since
it works with weapon finesse and has an 18-20 crit range.

Shortbow: If you're going for ranged weaponry
the light crossbow will make your bard less MAD, but if you can keep your
Strength at 12 or more without too many issues, a shortbow can be more powerful
than a light crossbow.

Whip: An interesting weapon with a lot of fun
applications, but the majority of bards won't be able to use it any better
than a longsword.

Armor

Armor is presented in the order in which you should acquire it, rather than
alphabetical order.

Studded Leather: Starting gear

Mithral Buckler: Normal shields still apply an
ACP penalty to the bard. The most cost effective shield available to you is a
mithral buckler. It's cheap, it's easy to enhance, and you still have a free
hand for spells or instruments.

Mithral Shirt: The best option for bards who plan
to use Dexterity. It's unlikely that you'll invest enough in your Dexterity to
hit the +10 bonus required to make Thistledown Padded Armor better than a mithral
shirt unless you go into epic levels.

Mithral Breastplate: For bards looking to invest
less in Dexterity than those in chain shirts, the mithral breastplate provides
a little more AC on its own than a mithral shirt.

Mithral Full Plate: If you pick up Battle Caster,
Mithral Full Plate is one of the best AC bonuses in the game, despite its
considerable cost. You shouldn't feel obligated to fill out the +3 max dex bonus
since you're likely more focused on Strength, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

Mage Armor/Greater Mage Armor: Almost no one is
better at Use Magic Device than the Bard. Pick up wands of Mage Armor and you
can easily match or outdo the benefits of real armor, often at a fraction of
the cost.

Magic Items

Weapons

Bow of SongsMIC (Unique): A fun concept,
but it will eat through your daily uses of Bardic Music very quickly without
much payoff.

Crystal EchobladeMIC (Unique): At less
than the cost of a +2 weapon, this is the best sword a bard could ever hope
for. Make sure that your DM will allow you to enchant if further, but even if
you can't this is pretty great.

HarmonizingMIC (+1): Fantastic at
any level. You need to "hold" the weapon, but your DM may allow you to put
this on a gauntlet. You might be able to hold your own hand when you start
singing, or maybe you can just make a fist with an empty gauntleted hand.
Either way, this is great, and it appears to stack with Lingering Song.
That means that you can start Inspire Courage, pass it off your weapon,
and get a full 2 minutes of the effect. However, if you start a new song
the harmonizing ends, so you'll need to track what your weapon is singing.

Stunning SurgeMIC (+1): Similar to
Sudden Stunning but considerably more balanced. Still fantastic, despite
being more costly and less powerful than Sudden Stunning. Sudden Stunning is
just that amazingly, unfairly good.

Sudden StunningDMG2 (+2000gp): This
is unfairly good, especially at such a pitifull low cost. I don't allow it in
my games. If your DM won't let you use this, consider Stunning Surge instead.

Armor/Shields

CommanderMIC (+1200gp): A cheap bonus
to Diplomacy and a constant bonus to your allies will saves. As long as your
party isn't trying to be stealthy, this is fantastic.

MobilityMIC (+1): Only works on light
armor, but if you're wearing Slippers of Battledancing this will get you Mobility
without wasting a feat on Dodge. If you plan to go for Spring Attack, don't waste
gold on this. If you're using maneuvers Spring Attack won't work with them so
this is a good idea. In either case, you could also use Tumble as a replacement
and wholly avoid attacks of opportunity.

Wands

Mage ArmorDMG: It's rare for a bard
to have enough Dexterity that armor stops making sense, but if you ever get to
the point that you're outgrowing the +6 maximum dexterity bonus of your Mithral
Shirt you should switch to relying on wands of Mage Armor. Upgrade to an eternal
wand of Greater Mage Armor when you can afford it.

Vigor, LesserSpC: The most cost-efficient
healing source in the game. Not every divine class can cast it, so even if
you have a traditional healer in the class you may prefer to UMD this when
you're healing after a fight.

Wondrous Items

Anstruth HarpMIC: All of the spells
are activated as a swift action, but their very situational so this isn't
really worth the price.

Canaith MandolinMIC: The spells
activate as a swift action, and they're reasonably useful.

Circlet of PersuasionDMG: Easy to
overlook, the Circlet of Persuasion is inexpensive and adds to all of the
Bard's most important skills, including Diplomacy, Perform, and Use Magic
Device. The bonus is Competence, so it won't stack with a lot of other buffs,
but since you're usually the one providing Competence bonuses to skills with
Inspire Competence this may be the only way for you to get competence bonuses.

Clie LyreMIC: Song of Freedom invalidates
one spell, and you can learn the other two. Not worth the cost.

Cloak of CharismaDMG: Your most
important item. Get one early, and upgrade it often.

Cloak of ResistanceDMG: Vest of
Resistance is identical and takes up a much less useful slot.

Doss LuteMIC: Mirror Image is the only
spell which isn't extremely situational, and you probably want to learn to cast
Mirror Image on your own.

Dove's HarpMIC: A bit pricy,
but free fast healing goes a long way. I always have trouble spening hold on
healing since wands of lesser vigor are so efficient, but the bigger your
party is the better this gets, so in large, high-level parties this may become
your go-to healing source.

Fochlucan BandoreMIC: Cheap enough
that by mid levels its basically nothing, but the spells are all cantrips that
you might have trouble finding use for.

Mac-Fuirmidh CithernMIC: The only useful
spell is Mage Armor, which you should get from a wand.

Ollamh HarpMIC: Good spells, but
very expensive. You'll likely find scrolls to be a better fit.

Slippers of BattledancingDMG2: A
great option for most combat bards. The ability to use your Charisma for attack
and damage means that you can dump Strength and don't need to invest heavily
in Dexterity. The effect is persistent, but requires you to move 10 feet
as part of a move action. So, unlike Skirmish-users you won't be able
to get away with movement and a full attack unless you go into Dervish.
Technically, that even disallows charging. Instead, consider boosting your
damage output with martial maneuvers which often activate as a standard action
if you're in melee.
Also note that the item requires to use light or one-handed weapons, but does
not require you to use a single or to use the weapon one-handed so two-weapon
fighting, using a longsword two-handed, and using thrown weapons all work.

Vest of LegendsDMG2: The skill bonuses
won't stack with Circlet of Persuasion and don't apply to nearly as many skills,
but the bonuses are little bit bigger. However, even if you also picked up Circlet
of Persuasion, the increase to your most important Bardic Music abilities is
well worth the cost.

Vest of ResistanceMIC: Same cost as
a cloak, and takes up the largely useless "torso" slot. Of course, you can cast
Greater Resistance and Superior Resistance with hours/level duration, so you
can probably skip a permanent resistance bonus altogether.

Permanent Spells

Multiclassing and Prestige Classes

CrusaderToB: One level gets you
quite a bit. White Raven stances open up the White Raven Song feat, and Strike
maneuvers work really well with Slippers of Battledancing. A second level gets
you Indomitable Soul, which isn't quite as good as Divine Grace but still
provides a hefty bonus to your Will saves. The way that crusaders refresh
their maneuvers is especially useful for bards with Slippers of Battledancing
because it always ensures that you have a maneuver to use unless you have
maneuvers that activate on a Swift action, in which cause you may be able
to run down your maneuvers and go without a Strike for a turn or two. During
those rare turns, consider refreshing your Bardic Music or casting a spell.
Also note that your "initiator level" includes half of your bard levels, so
if you wait a little while to pick up a level in Crusader you can get higher
level maneuvers and stances than you could otherwise.

DervishCW: A bit of a weird idea,
but I can see potential for a combat-focused bard going into Dervish. Slippers
of Battledancing cater to this idea exceptionally well.

PaladinPHB: Without the variant
paladins presented in Unearthed Arcana, this is a hard combination. You need
to go from whatever your alignment is as a Bard, then switch into Paladin for
at least one level before you can take Devoted Performer. Still, there's a bit
to be gained from a level or two in paladin, especially Divine Grace. Smite
Evil is fun, but with only one use per day from a class dip you won't get much
out of it unless you spend feats on Extra Smiting. You paladin levels also
don't advance Inspire Courage or your other musical abilities, so the best
you can do is an even split between bard and paladin, which is a mediocre
combination no matter how you do it. Instead, consider the Crusader. If your
DM allows you to use the alternate paladin alignments, the paladin of freedom
is an easier class dip since it won't require you to change alignments and
spend a feat.

RoguePHB: 8+ skill ranks, a huge
skill list, trapfinding, and sneak attack. A second levels gets you Evasion,
which is always nice to have.

ScoutCAd: I've never seen scouts
mentioned on another bard handbook, and I think that's a mistake. A single
level of scout gets you Trapfinding, similar skills to the Bard's, and a little
bit of Skirmish damage. I probably wouldn't for more than one level despite
all of the goodies the Scouts gets at any given level.

WarbladeToB: Warblades grant similar
maneuvers to crusaders and also open up White Raven Song, but their emphasis
on Intelligence synergizes less with Bards than the Crusader does. Their mechanism
for recharging maneuvers is a little bit less helpful than the Crusaders, too.